I love to cook. I love my CSA (community supported agriculture).
As The Purple Cook I’ll share with you how our family uses the food we got from our CSA and other local sources. The blog will share recipes, storage tips, and stories of what happens to that food from pick up to kitchen clean up.
A CSA can be fun, adventurous, and surprising.
Follow me on twitter at @PurpleCookBlog

Monday, February 28, 2011

This has always been a crowd pleaser. A couple of years ago I decided to make it for my youngest child’s 2nd birthday. I also decided I was only going to use fresh veggies, nothing frozen. Well….I didn’t cook the spinach before putting it in the meatloaf and we had lime green meatloaf for dinner. The kids thought they were eating something out of Dr. Seuss, my husband he couldn’t even eat it. Lesson learned, cook the spinach before putting it in the meatloaf mixture.

In the late spring I plan to have a poll on the blog. I’m going to ask you to pick one of three books to be featured each of the 25 weeks of the regular CSA season. Since beets seem to be the “uhhh” vegetable of Vegetable Box #2, I thought I’d use them to sample each of the books I’d like to feature in the upcoming season.

Book #1 is “Produce” by Brad Matthews and Paul WigstenThis is the textbook on produce for the Culinary Institute of America. I thought it would be fun to learn about one vegetable each week in depth. This book has descriptions of each vegetable, how it can be used in cooking, storage information, and nutritional information.

In “Produce” we learn from Matthews and Wigsten that BEETS (pg. 90) are closely related to chard and spinach. The beet greens can be used, and should be done so in the same manner chard and spinach are used. Beets have a very high sugar content and are the sweetest vegetable available.Applications listed for beets are• Boil• Roast• Pickle• Cream• Grate raw• Puree for soup

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

We really liked this meal. My children are the type who don’t like any of their food to touch each other. This meal makes the preparation of their plates easy. You cook the potatoes, peas, and chicken separately and then combine them with the spice. We had a yummy, spicy dinner and they had all the same food, but not touching each other!

In a medium pot, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water over high heat and cook until fork tender, 10 minutes. Remove with a spider or slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel lined bowl, set aside. Add peas to water and cook 3 minutes. Drain peas and set aside.

While potatoes are boiling, in an oven proof skillet or Dutch oven, heat olive oil – 2 turns of the pan. Season hot oil with salt and pepper and add chicken, cook 5 minutes until golden brown. Flip and transfer to oven, roast 15-20 minutes.

When chicken is finished roasting, remove from the pan. Drain off all but 1 T of fat. On the stovetop in the same skillet, add potatoes and spice mixture. Cook over medium-high until potatoes are golden, stir occasionally – 7 minutes. Stir in peas, lemon juice, and cilantro. To serve place chicken on top of peas and potatoes.

NOTE: The recipe calls for boneless, skin-on thighs. I could find any. I used boneless, skinless thighs.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roughly chop Kale. Toss Kale with 2-3 T of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange on a baking sheet (you may need two) and bake for about 15 minutes. Toss Kale midway through cooking time. Kale should be crispy at the end of cooking – it will break up nicely in the sauce for the pasta.

Heat remaining 2 T of olive oil in a large skillet on medium-low. Cook garlic and jalapeno for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the thyme and rosemary. Whisk the reserved pasta water into the garlic oil. Stir in the pasta. Then add crispy kale and ricotta, stir vigorously to coat the pasta. Serve with parmesan cheese.

In a Dutch oven on medium-low, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and their juice, red pepper flakes, stock, and cannellini beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then add pasta, turn down the heat, but maintain the boil so the pasta will cook, 8-10 minutes. Add the kale, cook another 10 minutes.Serve with parmesan.

NOTES: This would work well with any green. I’ve made it with spinach and the recipe originally calls for chard. My favorite pasta for this stew is orecchiette, but any small pasta will work.

In a large skillet melt the butter on medium-high heat. Add cabbage and cook 4 minutes. Stir occasionally and cabbage should begin to soften and brown around the edges. Add water, cover, and cook 5 minutes. Cabbage should become crisp-tender. Uncover, season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and cook 2 minutes, until tomatoes soften. Stir in vinegar. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I had a hard time coming up with recipes I wanted to make this week. Said and done, I’m trying some new recipes and going back to some favorites. Here are some meals with local ingredients that I’ve come up with for the week.

Friday, February 18, 2011

The Rutabaga Fries were delicious! A little spicy, which we like, but you can control that by altering the amount of cayenne you put in. These would work with any root vegetable – parsnips, rutabaga, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.

Heat 2 t oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, salt and pepper, and cook about 1 minute. Add chicken slices and cook until beginning to brown and cooked through, 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

As you can see, I tried to make a festive chip. These were not something to make while trying to get the rest of dinner on the table. The recipe reads very easily, but the chips all finish at different times and so I was constantly in and out of the oven, not something that makes sense when you are making other dinner items. I liked them, but would only make them again for something special.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

When I sat down to plan this week’s menu my goal was to start using the veggies that came in my new 40 pound vegetable box. We got so many beets and more cabbage than I would ever want. Cabbage is not my favorite, so I’m always looking for ways to use it and want to get it out of the way quickly. Here are some of the meals I’ve come up with for the week.

I made these carrots once from an Everyday Food recipe and they worked great. I thought this was that recipe, it wasn’t. This recipe was just okay. It doesn’t ask you to cover the carrots and I think that would have helped them to cook. I would cover initially, let them steam and then allow the liquid to absorb.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the green beans, jalapeno and chiles. Season with salt and cook covered until green beans defrost and/or warm through, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook uncovered until green beans begin to brown, another 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, toss with lemon juice and taste for salt.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

My goal when planning my menu this week was to have what I call a “Pantry Week”. I wanted to put to use some of what I have stored in the pantry and freezer. Here are the meals I’ve come up with for the week that include items from my CSA and items I can get locally.

Friday, February 4, 2011

I am introducing a new reader inspired feature. Each weekend I will post, The Purple Plan - the meals I have planned in the coming week that include CSA and local foods.After my posting on meal planning I was asked to share my weekly menu for ideas and inspiration. I thought I would share the menu items I have planned with the following designations…

Winter is a good time to try this new feature, although there might not be a whole lot of menu items with CSA and local foods. BUT wait, I’m getting another 40 pound vegetable box next week, posts there will be!Winter is good because it gives me a chance to try this feature out. Last year I would share Market Menus during the winter. I haven’t been to the winter market due to my first veggie box, sickness, and weather. I’ll get there eventually. During CSA season I would do a post each week about what we got and my plans for the items. The Purple Plan may or may not replace this weekly CSA season post. I’ll take the winter months to see how things shape up.